Croatian coastal Istria - or part of it!

On Monday we decided to visit Croatian Istria and the towns on the coast. Our first stop was the ancient Roman town of Porec.

Porec is the centre of a vast system of tourist resorts that stretches north and south along the coast of Istria. The ancient town is confined to a peninsula and packed with thousands of shops. Seemingly the main reason to visit Porec is to see the 6th century Euphrasian Basilica. It is one of Europe's finest intact examples of Byzantine art. There are glittering wall mosaics featuring Biblical scenes. We also visited the nearby Bishop's Palace.




There are lots of old houses etc. and a Round Tower.

Just like home!

On to Rovinj (Rovigno in Italian), coastal Istria's star attraction. And we thought so too! It is one of the last true Mediterranean fishing ports. Prayers for a good catch are sent forth at the massive Church of St. Euphemia up on the hill. It was food time so we chose a restaurant. I noticed a couple eating a mushroom omelette and suddenly that was what I had to have. There was no omelette on the menu but I decided to chance it. "Could I have a mushroom omelette please?" "We don't have!" I leaned over towards the couple nearby and asked if I could have what they were having. "Ok, normally we don't have!". We were serenaded all through lunch by a very talented saxophone player which really added to the enjoyment and the relaxation. That was one busker who deserved a reward which I got to him just as he was packing up.

The view from where we lunched

A sweet shop

The view to see as we made our way up the narrow streets to St. Euphemia Church

Notice the bunker

Another of Jim's seagulls

The Church of St. Euphemia that the locals ensured we didn't miss by pointing the way. We didn't realise that we were actually looking for it!

I prayed as Jim took photos!

Do you see a face in this photo? It might be a vision. Should we start pilgrimages?

What a wonderful array of chillis!

T-shirt stalls

We loved Rovigno! Our plan had been to go to the medieval village of Bale and then to Pula but there was time only for Bale.

So after Balke it was home leaving Pula for another day!